Butterfly
by badluckfan
Summary: Added my own character. First fanfic I ever wrote. CXM SPOILERS! plz R


Butterfly

Prologue:   
Sano is one of many of the Native Alters on the Lost Ground. As a child he was raised alone by his mother who was very ill because his father was killed by an Alter user when he was very young. When he was about four, strange things began to happen around him and it wasn't until later that he realized that he, himself, was an Alter user. Knowing the fear and hatred this could bring him, he hid this secret from everyone in his life, which wasn't that hard because the only people that he ever talked to were his mother and a neighbor boy named Cougar. When he was only six years old she died, leaving Sano nowhere to go and no one to turn to and he became even more secluded than he already was. Frightened and alone, Sano lived as a beggar in the streets. Taking pity on him, an old shop keeper took him in. The old man became like a father to him and the only friend that he had was Cougar, whom he only saw every once in a while.  
Over a year had passed since his mother's death. It was a beautiful spring day and Sano stood outside the shop sweeping the ground. He heard some laughter and turning around he saw a young girl who couldn't have been more than a year younger than him. She was running through the street trying to capture a butterfly. Feeling his eyes watching her she stopped and turned. Realizing that he had been staring, Sano turned red and turned away. She giggled and so he turned to see what was so funny. The girl than ran up to him.  
"Hi, I'm Kairi." Not used to really ever speaking to others, Sano became very nervous and began to fidget.  
"Um, my name is Sano." Kairi began giggling again. Irritated, he glared at her. Then realizing how funny he must've looked to her, he began laughing with her. From that day on they became almost inseparable.  
Then one fateful day ten years later, they got in a fight and Kairi jumped into her car and drove off. Later he found out that she had hit a patch of gravel and her car flipped. Her injuries were severe, but if someone had found her when it had first happened, then she would have been all right. Sano would have been able to help her, since his Alter power allowed him the ability to heal others while in turn taking on their own wounds. Convinced that he must be cursed or something, Sano took off shortly after Kairi's funeral service. He became a wanderer in the Lost Ground. Only stopping to talk to those whom he had known in his childhood.

"What the hell is going on around here? It's like I have chills running through my spine." Sano stopped to wonder as he looked out at the desolate wasteland known as the Lost Ground. Hearing someone approaching him from behind Sano quickly turned around. "Oh, Miss Mimori What are you doing out here?" Sano asked. He had never seen her wandering around by herself.  
"I need help. My car ran out of gas while I was trying to get to Ryuhou. Kanami stayed with the car but I need to hurry, however, I'm afraid that I may be lost." Mimori looked around frantically.  
Sano had known Mimori since Cougar had introduced her one day while she was in his car and he had taken a trip into Inner.  
"It's all right, I'll help you. Come on." Mimori and Sano both took off running down the road. "Crap, the road is blocked" Sano stopped, looking around for another way. "Come on, let's try this way." They both ran hard, kicking up the brown dust as their feet hit the earth.  
"Where... is... it?" Mimori asked as she was gasping for air. "Just a... a little further." Finally Sano stopped. He bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "We should be, I mean it's right..." Sano broke off. Mimori had a shocked expression on her face as she looked into a clearing.  
Looking up, Sano could see a figure of someone sitting and reading a book. "There's only one person that I know of who has hair like that." Sano thought to himself as he stood up. Mimori began to slowly walk up to the deck chair. Cougar just sat and turned the page. She was cautious, as if she wasn't sure what would happen if she got too close. The shadow from the umbrella was now covering her. She looked down over his shoulder. He was reading the murder the scene in Crime and Punishment when Raskolnikov first visits Sonia in her room. There seemed almost a look of nostalgia in his eyes as he read the words.  
Mimori spoke with deep care in her voice. "Um, Cougar?" Cougar shut the book and placed it on his lap.  
"Miss Minori, how pleased I am to see you on this fine day." Cougar looked up at her and smiled. Mimori glanced down at him for a second. "Are..." the words not wanting to leave her mouth. "Are you all right?" There was a heartbreaking silence as she stared upon his pale face. "Cougar." Mimori could not help the shakiness of her voice as she waited for his reply.  
Cougar sighed, then turned to gaze in the direction in which she had came. He saw Sano watching them and a small grin appeared on his face.  
Tears began to well up in Mimori's eyes.   
"Don't cry Miss Minori. We both knew that this day would someday come." Cougar said, trying to comfort her.  
"I... know. I just didn't think that..." Mimori tried to speak over her sobs. "It'll be all right." Cougar said as he reached up to hold her hand. Cougar grimaced as he felt as his energy being drained out of him. Sano then walked up to the two of them.  
"Cougar. Why...I mean, how could you..."  
"Come on Sano, not you too." Cougar said with a little grin, "Don't worry, it'll all be over soon. You should go now to Ryuhou, Miss Minori. I'll be fine." Mimori ripped her hand away from his grip.  
"How could you say that?" Mimori asked. Frustrated, she began walking away, sobbing into her hands.  
"Cougar, you can't just leave us like this." Sano said, trying to hold back tears as he watched his old friend dying.  
"Ah, the life of an Alter. 'Tis a gift, and a curse." Cougar replied as he took off his glasses to look up into Sano's troubled eyes.  
Sano squeezed his eyes as a glistening blue tear rolled down his cheek.  
"Cougar..."  
Remembering how precious time was right now, Mimori wiped away her tears and turned to walk back to Cougar's side. When she looked up, she noticed something fairly odd happening. There was a pink glow coming from the two who stood under the red and white umbrella. The light was so intense that she was forced to shield her eyes from it. When she looked back, Sano was on his hands and knees on the ground and Cougar was trying to help him up into the chair. Mimori gasped, stepping back with her hand over her mouth. She then ran up to find out what had just happened.  
Cougar looked frantic. "Mimori I need you to stay with Sano, I'm gonna get him some waterཀ" Cougar took off running. Mimori looked at Sano. "How? I mean why?" Sano looked up wearily at her.  
"Because I wanted for the both of you what I could never have." Mimori paused for a moment, "I don't understand."  
Sano took in a deep breath. "Not that long ago, I had a friend named Kairi. She was very dear to me but she felt for me in a way that I never thought was possible for myself to feel back. One day we had an argument over it. She was really upset and drove off. By the time I...It was too late. A man came to tell me... Her...her car had flipped over. She...and... It was all my faultཀ I should have..." Sano's words were lost in his uncontrollable sobs. Mimori wrapped her arms around him, cradling his head on her shoulder.  
Cougar came running up with the bucket of water. Mimori looked up at him. Her mournful eyes telling him what her mouth could not. He walked up next to her and looked down at Sano's peaceful face. He could still see the tears that were left on Sano's cheeks. Cougar closed his eyes, hanging his head. Mimori turned to embrace him. They both just stood in the sunlight, Mimori's warmth comforting him. When Cougar opened his eyes he saw as a little butterfly flew by in the wind.


End file.
